Occupational Health Practices Among Dental Care Professionals Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Details

• Personal Author:
  Akpinar-Elci, Muge ; Banaee S ; Claiborne DM
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a substantial burden on dental care professionals. While dentistry is known as one of the most exposed and high-risk professions, dental care professionals are indeed at even greater risk. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, occupational health practices, personal protective equipment usage, and mental stressors during COVID-19 pandemic among dental care professionals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among dental care professionals who were subscribers to a dental hygiene journal using a self-administered online survey (n = 1047 respondents). Cross-tabulations were performed to determine differences in the responses to the statements related to different domains. RESULTS: COVID-19 impacted the healthy work-life balance (p < 0.001) and caused sleeping difficulty among the respondents (p < 0.001). Moreover, a lower response on changing respirators and gloves for each patient compared with before viral pandemic was observed (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Ongoing training on infection control, occupational health practices, and PPE usage can prevent the transmission of COVID-19 among dental care professionals and the public. Lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) is a burden for applying occupational health practices in dental clinics and present a risk to the public. COVID-19 may contribute to developing psychological stress and disrupt healthy work-life balance among dental professionals. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Dental Offices Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Sleep Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Personal Protective Equipment Coronavirus COVID-19 Dental Health Dentistry Job Stress Mental Health Personal Protective Equipment PPE Work-family Balance
• ISSN:
  1051-9815
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  68
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070277
• Citation:
  Work 2021 Apr; 68(4):993-1000
• Contact Point Address:
  Sean Banaee, PhD, CIH, CSP, Assistant Professor and Program Director, School of Community and Environmental Health, 4608 Hampton Blvd Room 3120, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
• Email:
  sbanaee@odu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Work
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:47a7ce546b9e8fba9056e208477181cacab0f24ab8a50aaa9a4103f7fc2ddb1fefff2829ec0cacd5a3eb1705e7c14200a9cf81e11f084d94663e20e6e505572c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208524/cdc_208524_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 76.62 KB ]